The Philippines is hit by about 20 major storms a year, many of them deadly, and Rammasun will be the first to make landfall since the rainy season began last month.

Authorities said they were taking every precaution to avoid fatalities, after Super Typhoon Haiyan left about 7,300 people dead or missing when it tore across the central Philippines in November last year.

“We are already warning the public to be on alert for possible effects of the weather disturbance – landslides, flash floods, strong rains and winds,” said Alexander Pama, head of the National Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Council.

Miguel Villafuerte, governor of Camarines Sur province in southern Luzon, which is expected to be hit hard by the storm, said many people in vulnerable areas were already being urged to flee.

Residents riding on a truck as they are evacuated by authorities from the approaching Typhoon Rammasun in Legazpi City, southeast of Manila on July 15, 2014. - AFP

“We are extra cautious because of what happened with Yolanda last year,” he said, using the local name for Haiyan.

The disaster management council said it had already alerted more than 1,300 villages susceptible to floods or landslides they were in Ramassun’s direct path and residents should be prepared to shelter in evacuation centres.

The second level of a three-step storm alert has been raised over the Bicol archipelago southeast of Manila, where the storm is expected to first hit. Classes on all levels have already been suspended.

Heavy rain is also expected to fall over the central islands that bore the brunt of Haiyan and where thousands of people are still living in tents or other makeshift evacuation centres.

Storm alerts have also been hoisted for the more than 12 million people in Manila, with some classes having already been suspended.

The new storm is expected to bring 7.5mm to 15mm of rainfall per hour, the disaster council said. — AFP